In 2009, a bipartisan coalition supported strengthening the False Claims Act, and in the 2010 healthcare law, the Obama administration pushed for more money and tougher tools to fight fraud. According to USA Today, whistleblower cases are one of the main tools the Justice Department uses to fight fraud. Tony West, an assistant Attorney General in the civil division of the Justice Department told USA Today last year, “We’ve made healthcare fraud such a high priority; we’ve been using this tool very, very aggressively.”

“These changes in whistleblower rewards go to show just how important whistleblowers are in the fight against fraud on our government. In a time of skyrocketing healthcare costs, one surefire way to reduce the expenses all of us incur is to eliminate as much healthcare fraud as possible. The brave men and women who come forward and expose these crimes deserve to be rewarded for bringing these schemes to light and the perpetrators to justice,” says Chris Paulos, attorney with Levin, Papantonio law firm.